Real Estate

Served as lead negotiator for the Moinian Group in collective bargaining regarding the sale of commercial buildings.

Served as lead negotiator for the New York Building Owner Association (NYBOA) in a multi-employer bargaining unit regarding building owners in New York.

Successfully won an arbitration, defeated unfair labor practice charge before the NLRB, and won the dismissal of an Article 78 proceeding in N.Y. Supreme Court following the termination of a resident superintendent for a property management company.

Represented Herring Homes (Raleigh, NC) in its acquisition by Great Southern Homes.

Represented Mattamy Homes in its acquisitions of Chase Homes (Minneapolis, MN), Atlantic Builders (Jacksonville, FL), and Mulvaney Homes (Charlotte, NC).

Represented Toll Brothers in its acquisitions of Landstar Homes (Orlando, FL) and Camwest Homes (Seattle, WA).

Represented New Synergy Homes (Dallas, TX) in its acquisition by Mattamy Homes.

Represented Elite Built Homes (Louisville, KY) in its acquisition by Clayton Homes, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Represented Terramor Homes (Raleigh, NC) in its acquisition by D.R. Horton.

Represented Oakdale Homes (Dallas, TX) in its acquisition by AV Homes.

Represented Savvy Homes (Raleigh, NC) in its acquisition by AV Homes.

Represented Stoneridge Homes (Huntsville, AL) in its acquisition by American Southern Homes.

Represented Arcadia Communities (Northern Virginia) in its acquisition by Van Metre Homes.

Member of the trial team representing investors in action in Alabama brought by a public REIT stemming from a troubled real estate investment. Helped to defeat two summary judgment motions and obtain a jury verdict for $12.7 million, including $6 million in punitive damages on counterclaims for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.

Represented a real estate consortium in the prosecution of negligence claims against a major bank, obtaining favorable interpretation of UCC provisions on summary judgment motion, leading to a multi-million-dollar settlement by the bank.

Won a complicated motion to compel arbitration which the plaintiff sought to overturn by Petition for Writ of Mandate in the Court of Appeal. After we filed Preliminary Opposition, the California Court of Appeal summarily denied the Writ. The Plaintiff then filed a Petition for Review by the California Supreme Court, and Barton filed an Answer to the Petition for Review. The Supreme Court denied the Petition for Review by Order (Darcom v. Black Knight Origination Technologies, Inc.).

Won motion and injunction gaining clients full administrative control of a $363 million syndicated loan and authority over the disposition of 17 commercial real estate projects that secured the loan without trial, ousting a top five bank as the administrative agent.

Represented 1617 Abbott Kinney, LLC in litigation brought in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in a matter alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and negotiated a settlement prior to the filing of dispositive motions or commencement of pretrial discovery. Settlement included a provision that each side would pay its own attorneys’ fees, a critical provision because the largest element of damages obtainable under this statute is payment of the adversary’s attorneys’ fees which, in some cases, can extend into very large sums. In addition, we negotiated full payment of the client’s legal fees to be paid by the client’s tenant.

Successfully resolved $11.5 million dispute over the purchase price of a five building 350 unit apartment complex through mediation and binding arbitration between client, one of nation’s largest pension funds, and leading real estate developer/manager.

Represented a family-owned real estate company regarding a data incident. Our role was to liaise with insurance carriers, secure and contract with a forensic investigator, lead the investigation and analyze the results to determine whether a breach had occurred while keeping the conversation privileged.

Won Summary Judgment for pension fund against 40 individual plaintiffs and defeated motion for class certification in case involving a nine figure plaintiffs’ demand against owner of 350 unit apartment complex in Santa Monica, CA. Obtained dismissal of alleged claims for breach of implied warranty of habitability, public nuisance, fraudulent concealment, negligence, and unfair business practices and all class claims in Complex Los Angeles Superior Court action.

Won $1,700,000 breach of contract judgment for broker after two week Superior Court jury trial against two of the nation’s largest real estate developers; won appeal in which judgment was affirmed in full and review was denied in the California Supreme Court; collected over $2,000,000 after appeals were denied.

Won award of specific performance regarding option to buy oil producing property and leases in downtown Los Angeles following arbitration hearing.

Won three week jury trial co-tried in business fraud – real estate partnership dispute leading to $2.32 million judgment.

Won claim litigation establishing validity of real estate secured lender’s $3.363 million claim against shopping center over objection in bankruptcy case; recovered full claim for attorneys’ fees in underlying action.

Won Summary Adjudication dismissing uninsured punitive damages claims in casualty case against downtown property owner/manager.

Successfully resolved claim against real estate investment fund alleging alter ego liability as member of limited liability company for $13 million construction contract. Case successfully resolved through mediation while motion for summary judgment was pending.

Obtained order for real estate secured lender lifting stay of foreclosure on $45 million loan secured by Santa Monica office building and requiring counsel for debtor to disgorge $108,500 in legal fees and pay client’s fees in sanctions.

Represented lenders, investors, and/or other creditors and interested parties in the Chapter 11 cases of: Calpine Corporation (utilities), WorldCom (telecommunications), Exide Technologies (manufacturing), Dana Corp (automotive), Bally Total Fitness (health clubs), Refco (financial services), Pliant Corp (packaging), Nellson Nutraceutical (health foods), Advanced Marketing/Publishers Group (book distributing/publishing), Earth Biofuels Inc. (alternative fuels), American Home Mortgage (financial services), KB Toys (retail), Marcel Paper Mills (paper manufacturing), Bayonne Medical Center (healthcare), Barnert Hospital (healthcare), DOBI Medical (healthcare), Kara Homes (real estate), Solomon Dwek (real estate), New Jersey Affordable Homes (real estate), Rockaway Bedding (retail), Levitz Furniture (retail), Jazz Photo Group (retail), Kiwi and UAL Airlines (airline industry).

Represented a New York-based commercial real estate construction management firm against a developer-debtor of a 45-story luxury hotel and residential mixed-use complex in mid-Manhattan valued in excess of $100 million. Aggressively and successfully opposed its fast-tracked plan confirmation process so that the client’s multi-million-dollar trust fund-related claims were allowed in full, and the funds for the same were carved out of the estate and set aside as part of the debtor’s plan confirmation.

Represented several other official and ad hoc trade creditor, bondholder, and equity security holder Chapter 11 committees, including in the cases of Oskar Huber Fine Furniture (retail), HPG International (manufacturing), Lakeview Subacute Care (healthcare), Southmark Corporation (real estate), Circle K Corporation (retail), Merry-Go-Round Enterprises, Inc. (retail), and Zale Corporation (retail).

Represented GIT Mortgage Investors, a mortgage REIT, in its IPO and follow-on public offering.